Consumer product compositions often contain benefit agents, such as conditioning agents, to provide enhancements to surfaces treated with the consumer product composition such as improved hand feel benefits (e.g. soft, silky feel), softness benefits, and the like. Such benefits are desired by consumers of fabric care products, such as laundry detergents or fabric softeners, skin care products, such as skin moisturizing lotions, and hair care products, like shampoo or hair conditioners.
Such consumer product compositions, such as fabric softeners or hair conditioners, are typically provided in the form of aqueous liquid products. Since many desirable conditioning agents are hydrophobic in nature, it can be a challenge to create a stable aqueous liquid formulation containing hydrophobic conditioning agents. As a result, such conditioning agents are typically incorporated in aqueous liquid compositions in the form of emulsions or other systems comprising emulsion droplets/particles having relatively small particle size benefits agents, typically smaller than 1 μm. One drawback of having small particle size conditioning agents is that it can be difficult to deposit and retain small particle size benefit agents on the treated surface, especially if the surfaces are being treated in the context of an aqueous treatment liquor such as a detergent treatment liquor in a washing machine or a treatment liquor that a consumer uses in the shower when shampooing and/or conditioning her hair. As a result, the small particle size conditioning agents can be easily washed down the drain and therefore wasted, as opposed to being deposited and retained on surfaces to enhance the surface.
In order to address such drawbacks, attempts have been made to provide delivery systems, such as encapsulation systems, for the hydrophobic conditioning agents in order to enhance their deposition and retention on surfaces while remaining stable in an aqueous liquid product. These delivery systems, however, can limit the effectiveness of the conditioning agents or lead to other issues.
It is therefore desired to provide a consumer product composition that contains relatively large particle size conditioning agents without the need for liquid delivery systems that can interfere with the effectiveness of the conditioning agent being deposited on the treated surfaces.